Friday, November 30, 2018

Incrusting spongeMyxilla incrustans
This sponge can be found on rocky subtidal areas at Race Rocks It
commonly grows over the surface of swimming scallop shells. It is
believed to form a mutualistic association with the swimming scallop,
obtaining a moveable substrate while preventing predation of the
scallop. Apparently the smell of the sponge deters the sea stars which
may be intending to prey on the scallop. It is an extremely variable
widely distributed species ranging from intertidal to 2540 m. (The Race
Rocks Taxonomy)

King tide floods part of Vancouver's seawall, offering glimpse into city's future
Parts of Vancouver's seawall were submerged Thursday morning after a
king tide lifted water levels in False Creek to 50 centimetres above
normal. Angela Danyluk, a city sustainability specialist, trudged
through the water wearing gum boots. She suspects designs for parts of
the seawall weren't made with king tides in mind. "It looks like this
was probably designed for the high tide from maybe the 70s or the 80s,"
she told CBC News while passersby snapped photos of the rare flooding.
For researchers like Danyluk, the king tide is both spectacle and
warning: the high waters will likely be the norm in decades to come,
thanks to sea level rises. Jon Hernandez reports. (CBC)

Beach restoration: Limited access provided for area east of the Elwha River mouth
A soft opening of the Beach Lake Conservation Area east of the Elwha
River mouth is planned Saturday. Coastal Watershed Institute (CWI)
officials will begin with a short presentation at 1 p.m. followed by an
informal opening of the property for public use. The address is 2646
Lower Elwha Road. A short walk is required to access the beach from
Lower Elwha Road. Guests are encouraged to carpool as parking is
limited. Dogs and other pets are not allowed. CWI, which works to
protect and restore ecosystems through scientific research and
partnerships, secured state and federal funds for the conservation and
restoration of the 26-acre Beach Lake parcel east of the Elwha River.
Rob Ollikainen

Mother orca who carried her dead calf at center of hearings over Trans Mountain pipeline
Orca mother Tahlequah carried her dead calf for 17 days in July, but her
loss is living on among First Nations and Washington tribes that have
presented her as a living witness. The whale and the loss of her calf
were at the center of prayers, songs and testimony before Canada’s
National Energy Board in Victoria, B.C., on Wednesday, as it continued
hearings underway for three weeks as part of its reconsideration of a
massive expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline. Suquamish, Swinomish,
Lummi and Tulalip Nations traveled to Victoria to offer testimony to the
board against the pipeline, and share cultural teachings about the
importance of the orca, salmon and the tribes’ treaty-reserved fishing
rights. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times)

Squamish Nation reaches $1.1 billion Woodfibre LNG benefit agreement
It wasn’t an easy decision for the Squamish First Nation to approve the
$1.6 billion Woodfibre LNG proposal, according to a spokesman, but it
came with potential benefits amounting to $1.1 billion in land and cash.
The Squamish First Nation council approved three economic benefit
agreements last week — one each with Woodfibre, FortisBC and the
province, but “contingent on the environmental conditions being met,
according to a news release issued Thursday. Qualified with the term “if
the project is built,” it talks about 40-year deals that include cash
payments totalling $225.65 million, 1,600 short-term and 330 long-term
jobs, business opportunities and land transfers of 422 hectares. Derrick
Penner reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Federal Employees Are Warned Not to Discuss Trump ‘Resistance’ at Work
At workplaces across the United States, it is routine for Americans’
conversations to turn to President Trump — whether his policies are
good, whether he should be impeached, what to think about the
“resistance.” Some drink from MAGA mugs; others tape cartoons to their
cubicle walls portraying Mr. Trump as a Russian quisling. But roughly
two million people who work for the federal government have now been
told that it may be illegal for them to participate in such discussions
at work — a pronouncement that legal specialists say breaks new ground,
and that some criticized as going too far. Generally, federal employees
have been free to express opinions about policies and legislative
activity at work as long as they do not advocate voting for or against
particular candidates in partisan elections. But in a guidance document
distributed on Wednesday, the independent agency that enforces the Hatch
Act, a law that bars federal employees from taking part in partisan
political campaigns at work or in an official capacity, warned that
making or displaying statements at work about impeaching or resisting
Mr. Trump is likely to amount to illegal political activity. Charles
Savage reports. (NY Times)

Whales stranded in New Zealand: Another 50 pilot whales die
Fifty-one pilot whales have died after becoming stranded on a beach on
the Chatham Islands off New Zealand. The mass stranding means more than
200 whales have died in separate incidents over the past week in the
region. New Zealand's Department of Conservation says between 80 and 90
whales were found to have become stranded in Hanson Bay on Thursday.
Several dozen managed to refloat themselves but 50 were found dead and
one had to be put down. (BBC)

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service
by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@)
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Thursday, November 29, 2018

King tides and 12,000 cfs at the Elwha nearshore 27 November 2018
Anne Shaffer of Coastal Watershed Institute writes: "Over the course of
the summer we're often asked of the west delta: 'Does this area really
connect to the river?' Here is the answer. With the season's first high
river flows and the years highest tides the entire west delta is
reactivated, allowing fish, including juvenile coho, Chinook, steelhead,
and adult bull trout, cutthroat, and (hopefully) returning chum to move
freely thru the reconnected side channels. Except of course west of the
Place dike, which is instead teeming only with stickleback. The
reconnected hydrodynamic sediment engine of the nearshore Elwha is
complex, critically important, and visually spectacular. The resulting
size of the area has gotten so big it's now almost impossible to capture
in one frame."

‘Our way of life in its last hour,’ Tsawout tell pipeline hearings
A way of life is at risk if the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline
goes ahead. That sentiment was made clear through what was an
emotionally charged testimony provided to the National Energy Board by
Indigenous leaders from the Saanich Peninsula Wednesday. “This is our
last hour to say no to tanker traffic … our way of life is in its last
hour,” an impassioned Chief Harvey Underwood of the Tsawout First Nation
told the board. The board has been hearing oral traditional evidence
from Indigenous groups in Victoria this week. As part of its new review
of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, the board has been on the road
for the past 10 days hearing oral traditional evidence. The hearings,
which will shift to Nanaimo next week, are the result of the Federal
Court of Appeal striking down approval of the pipeline expansion
project, citing inadequate Indigenous consultation and the energy
board’s failure to review the project's impacts on the marine
environment. Andrew Duffy reports. (Times Colonist)

Washington tribes say Canadian pipeline will harm orcas, way of life
Several U.S. tribal leaders told Canadian energy regulators Wednesday
that increased tanker traffic from a proposed pipeline expansion project
would harm endangered orcas, natural resources and their cultural way
of life. The contentious Trans Mountain project would nearly triple the
flow of oil from the Alberta oil sands to the Pacific Coast, and
increase tanker traffic from about 60 to more than 400 vessels annually
through the Salish Sea — the inland waters of Canada and U.S. that are
also critical feeding grounds for the endangered orcas. Leaders from
four Native American tribes in Puget Sound, Washington, traveled to
Victoria, British Columbia, to testify before Canada's National Energy
Board as the panel reconsiders the impact of marine shipping from the
pipeline project, as ordered by a Canadian court. Phuong Le reports.
(Associated Press)

Washington state lawmakers propose ban on single-use plastic bags
Democratic lawmakers in Washington state said Wednesday that they plan
to pursue legislation to ban single-use plastic bags, like the ones used
in grocery and retail stores. The measure would eliminate all plastic
bags used for purchases and levy a 10-cent fee on paper bags, backers of
the bill — Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-Orcas Island, and Rep. Strom Peterson,
D-Edmonds — announced in Seattle on Wednesday. They plan to introduce
their bill in the Legislature’s next session that starts in January. The
bill’s passage in Washington, where Democrats control both chambers of
the Legislature as well as the governorship, would make the state second
in the U.S., after California, to impose a statewide ban on single-use
plastic bags. State politicians regularly boast of having some of the
strictest environmental regulations in the nation, but they’ve also been
criticized by environmental groups for not doing enough. Hannah
Rodriguez reports. (Seattle Times) See also: State lawmakers want to ban plastic bags Alison Morrow reports. (KING)

Vancouver salmon researcher receives national nod
The numbers floating around Scott Hinch’s mind are daunting, if not
impossible, to fathom. Infrastructure costs that veer into seven digits.
Thousands of kilometres of water. Tens of millions of fish. A forestry
professor with the University of B.C.’s Forest and Conservation
Sciences department, Hinch is responsible for heading up
first-of-its-kind research into salmon tracking and health monitoring.
His work was formally recognized on a global scale this week, having
received the Exceptional Leadership – Professor designation from the
national non-profit group Mitacs. The basis for Hinch’s award is rooted
in a seven-year study he recently wrapped up that tracked the migration
patterns and survival rates of millions of sockeye and steelhead
spanning from the Interior of B.C., down the Fraser River and across
Vancouver Island. John Kurucz reports. (Vancouver Courier)

Volunteers complete study of Protection Island wildlife
Off the coast of Cape George is a 370-acre island, uninhabited by
humankind, teeming with wildlife. It only takes a quick boat ride to get
to Protection Island from the Cape George Marina, but no boats are
allowed within 200 yards of the island’s shore, and kayakers are barred
from landing on shore. Protection Island is the home of 70 percent of
the Puget Sound’s nesting seabirds, and it’s one of the two places in
the Puget Sound that supports nesting areas for rare tufted puffins and
rhinoceros auklets. To protect nature, the small piece of land was
designated a Wildlife Refuge in 1982. Then, in 2010, the Department of
Natural Resources designated 24,000 acres which surround the island as
an Aquatic Reserve. Despite the lack of humans, there is still a lot of
work that goes into preserving the refuge. Much of that work is done by
volunteers who are part of the Protection Island Aquatic Reserve Citizen
Stewardship Committee, a group of citizen scientists who do everything
from counting birds and marine mammals, to observing intertidal biota,
to driving boats and writing down data. Lily Haight reports. (Port
Townsend Leader) See also: Bird watchers’ paradise Lily Haight reports. (Port Townsend Leader)

Lake Love. Forty years and counting
The brochure for the Tennant Lake Interpretive Center’s boardwalk
resembles a treasure map, but instead of leading its followers to a
secret cache of gold coins or pirate’s booty, the colorful artwork by
Margaret M. McCandless uncovers the riches of the natural world. The map
posits that those who choose to follow the roundabout path from the
historic Nielsen house on the outskirts of Ferndale through the lake’s
swampland, marshes, wetlands and sloughs should be on the lookout for a
variety of creatures—from bald eagles to yellow warblers, beavers, cedar
waxwings, wood ducks, a couple of different species of frogs, meadow
mice, dragonflies and great blue herons. While these seasonal sights
will likely be hidden by darkness by the time the Friends of Tennant
Lake and Hovander Park host a reception celebrating the center’s 40th
anniversary on Fri., Nov. 30, those who’ve traversed the acreage during
daylight hours are likely already aware of its status as a gem of
Whatcom County. Amy Kepferle reports. (Cascadia Weekly)

Ranker chosen to chair new Senate Environment & Tourism Committee and lead on environmental budget
Sen. Kevin Ranker (D-Orcas Island) was selected by his peers in the
Senate Democratic Caucus to chair the new Environment & Tourism
Committee in the 2019 Legislative Session.... Recognizing the incredible
environmental opportunities before us, the Senate is restructuring
environmental oversight by establishing a new committee with general
oversight of environmental protection and policies. The committee
members will also work to boost our state’s tourism industry. A 2015
study showed that Washington’s outdoor recreation industry generates
more than $20 billion annually. (San Juan Islander)

River otters fatten up on bite-sized, at-risk sturgeon
A handful of hungry river otters have added juvenile sturgeon to their
diet and it's directly impacting a Vanderhoof sturgeon recovery project.
"Downtown Vanderhoof, we have the last three or four years had six or
seven very healthy otters that seem to like Nechako white sturgeon as
part of their dining habits," said Nechako White Sturgeon Recovery
Initiative chair Wayne Salewksi. Salewski said the initiative is trying
to help the fish avoid being eaten by predators that like small fry by
growing the fish larger before releasing them. Audrey McKinnon reports.
(CBC) See also: As koi fall victim to an otter, Chinese community sees loss of cultural symbol Alex Migdal reports. (CBC)

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service
by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@)
salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you
can unsubscribe at any time.

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

China rockfishSebastes nebulosus
China rockfish are found from Kechemak Bay, Cook Inlet, Alaska, to San
Nicolas Island in southern California. They are found at water depths
between 3 and 128 m (10-420 ft). This is a solitary species inhabiting
high-energy, high-relief rocky outcrops with numerous crevices. They
are very territorial and rarely move more than 10 m (33 ft) from their
home site. Commonly caught by recreational harvesters off the northern
Washington coast. Recreational harvest within Puget Sound has been
closed. (WDFW)

Fraser islands deforestation Canada’s most urgent rivers issue
Deforestation of three islands in the heart of the Fraser River is the
most pressing rivers issue in the country for the coming year, according
to the Outdoor Recreation Council. Herrling, Carey and Strawberry
Islands — nestled mid-river between Hope and Mission — are all being
cleared of trees to varying degrees, activity that could damage the most
biologically productive part of the Fraser, said ORC rivers chair Mark
Angelo. This stretch of river is a spawning site for threatened white
sturgeon, a rearing area for chinook salmon and provides habitat for
more than two dozen other finfish species. “It sustains our largest
single spawning run of salmon, the millions upon millions of pink salmon
that spawn right in the main stem every two years, right in and around
those islands,” said Angelo, who has received the Order of British
Columbia and the Order of Canada for his conservation work. Randy Shore
reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Skagit River picked to be on a stamp
The Skagit River will be featured in the U.S. Postal Service’s “Forever”
stamp program thanks to its national recognition as a waterway that has
wild and scenic values. The Postal Service announced Nov. 20 the
Forever stamp lineup for 2019. The Skagit River will be one of 12 rivers
included in a stamp book showcasing river segments with designations
under the national Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Kimberly Cauvel reports.
(Skagit Valley Herald)

Two weeks of testimony scheduled in oyster growers’ appeal for pesticide permit
Oyster growers on the Washington coast will have a chance to convince
regulators to let them use a controversial pesticide to control native
burrowing shrimp. The shrimp can infest oyster beds and turn them into
quicksand. Members of the Willapa Bay Grays Harbor Oyster Growers
Association say they’ve lost hundreds of acres of tidelands to the
problem. In 2015, the Department of Ecology approved conditional use of
imidacloprid, a common agricultural insecticide that had never before
been permitted for use in the water. A neurotoxin in the class known as
neonicotinoids, it has been linked to bee colony collapse. It paralyzes
the shrimp and causes them to suffocate. After much public outcry, the
growers withdrew from their original permit and then came back with a
scaled back permit application in 2017. This April, Ecology denied that
permit. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

The Dusky Gopher Frog Loses a Round in the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Tuesday that an appeals court
must take a fresh look at whether the Fish and Wildlife Service had gone
too far in its attempt to protect an endangered species, the dusky
gopher frog. The species is in danger of extinction, and the only known
remaining frogs live in the De Soto National Forest in Mississippi....
Chief Justice Roberts said the case turned on the meaning “critical
habitat.” Adam Liptak reports. (NY Times)

SATURDAY: You’re invited to ‘Welcome the Orcas’!
The Whale Trail and Seal Sitters invite the public to an inspirational,
educational, fun and family-friendly event on Saturday, December 1, to
mark the annual return of the southern resident orcas to the inland
waters of Puget Sound. At the event, members of the public can learn
about the final recommendations put forth by Governor Inslee’s Southern
Resident Orca Task Force and have fun while learning about Seattle’s
famous residents and the major threats to their survival.... The event
begins with activities, games, and informational booths at 10, speakers
at 11:30 am, Orca Parade at noon, 12:30-2 pm “light reception” mode. The
Bathhouse is at the east end of the Alki boardwalk, 60th/Alki. (West
Seattle Blog)

B.C. researchers discover parasitic wasps that hypnotize and feast on spiders
Philippe Fernandez-Fournier was in Ecuador studying "social" spiders
that typically stay close to their colonies. So, when one wandered off
alone and started spinning a thick, cocoon-like web, he noticed....
Those first notes led to the discovery of a new species of wasp that
transforms the sociable spiders into lifeless drones that abandon their
own colonies to obey the wasp instead. And, eventually, die to keep the
wasp alive. The findings, published in Ecological Entomology this fall, detail the unusual parasite-host relationship between the Zatypota wasp and the spider. (CBC)

Climate change: CO2 emissions rising for first time in four years
Global efforts to tackle climate change are way off track says the UN,
as it details the first rise in CO2 emissions in four years. The
emissions gap report says that economic growth is responsible for a rise
in 2017 while national efforts to cut carbon have faltered. To meet the
goals of the Paris climate pact, the study says it's crucial that
global emissions peak by 2020. But the analysis says that this is now
not likely even by 2030. Matt McGrath reports. (BBC)

Feds approve Samish Tribe land application
The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs has approved a land application from
the Samish Indian Nation that the tribe hopes will end years of struggle
when it comes to its property rights. "It's a great Christmas present
for the tribe," said Samish Chairman Tom Wooten. The approval from the
Bureau of Indian Affairs gets the tribe one step closer to bringing a
6.7-acre plot of land into trust, which would give the tribe authority
over how to develop and tax the land. But more importantly, Wooten
said, it demonstrates that the tribe is eligible to bring land into
trust, something that has been uncertain until now. Brandon Stone
reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service
by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@)
salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you
can unsubscribe at any time.

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Noble firAbies proceraAbies procera, the noble fir, also called red fir and
Christmastree, is a western North American fir, native to the Cascade
Range and Coast Range mountains of extreme northwest California and
western Oregon and Washington in the United States. It is a
high-altitude tree, typically occurring at 300–1,500 m (980–4,920 ft)
altitude, only rarely reaching the tree line. (Wikipedia)

Today is Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday, often stylized as #GivingTuesday for purposes of
hashtag activism, refers to the Tuesday after U.S. Thanksgiving in the
United States. It is a movement to create an international day of
charitable giving at the beginning of the Christmas and holiday season.
(Wikipedia)

NASA’s InSight Mission Has Touched Down on Mars to Study the Red Planet’s Deep Secrets
The InSight lander, NASA’s latest foray to the red planet, has
landed. Cheers erupted on Monday at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena, Calif., which operates the spacecraft, when InSight
sent back acknowledgment of its safe arrival on Mars. That was the end
of a journey of more than six months and 300 million miles. As InSight
descended and each milestone of the landing process was called out, “the
hairs on the back of my neck would start rising a little bit higher, a
little bit higher,” Tom Hoffman, the project manager for the mission,
said at a news conference after the landing. “And then when we finally
got the confirmation of touchdown, it was completely amazing. The whole
room went crazy. My inner four-year-old came out.” Kenneth Chang
reports. (NY Times)

Trans Mountain pipeline: BC chief says his people responsible for land
Protection of salmon, animals and the land in the Fraser Valley of
British Columbia is an eternal responsibility of First Nations and the
expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline poses risks that could harm the
homes and culture of Aboriginal Peoples, the National Energy Board
heard Monday. But Chief Tyrone McNeil of the Sto:lo Tribal Council and
councillor Andrew Victor of the Cheam First Nation did not say they are
completely opposed to the expansion project as the board began hearings
in Victoria. Victor said the Sto:lo, which includes the Cheam First
Nation, want to see grounds for the pipeline expansion project,
including the completion of environmental assessments that examine the
risks and impacts of a spill. The council also wants to be part of
ongoing consultations and environmental assessments, he added. Dirk
Meissner reports. (Canadian Press)

The Insect Apocalypse Is Here. What does it mean for the rest of life on Earth?
Sune Boye Riis was on a bike ride with his youngest son, enjoying the
sun slanting over the fields and woodlands near their home north of
Copenhagen, when it suddenly occurred to him that something about the
experience was amiss. Specifically, something was missing. It was
summer. He was out in the country, moving fast. But strangely, he wasn’t
eating any bugs. Brooke Jarvis reports. (NY Times)

Super-bacteria showing up in Puget Sound wildlife – from orcas to otters
A leafy little tunnel runs through the undergrowth along the Black River
in the Seattle suburb of Renton: an otter trail. It’s in hidey-holes
like this that river otters leave detailed evidence of human misdeeds.
Just downstream, in the Duwamish River, droppings left by river otters
reveal toxic PCBs and other industrial waste. Here, in a woodsy city
park where the Black River carries runoff from nearby subdivisions and
business parks, otter droppings contain our antibiotics and the
super-bacteria that they can generate. Bacteria that resist antibiotic
drugs are becoming more widespread in our environment. John Ryan
reports. (KUOW)

Victoria has to move beyond ‘duty to consult’ on indigenous issues
Lasting reconciliation in B.C. requires the provincial government to
move beyond its current minimal “duty to consult” with Indigenous
nations, according to a report being released Tuesday. The province
should adopt a new approach that would lead to “obtaining free, prior
and informed consent” from First Nations in anything to do with their
title and rights, the report states. The report, released by the Union
of B.C. Indian Chiefs and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives,
stresses the importance of implementing the 2007 United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a groundbreaking
international agreement that establishes minimum standards for the
survival of Indigenous people, such as individual and collective rights
and the right to self-determination. The government of B.C. has said it
is committed to adopting and implementing the declaration. Kevin Griffin
reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Extreme high tides in Seattle this week
Every morning this week, Seattle will experience especially high tides.
They’re called "king tides." They happen once or twice a year, when the
moon comes closest to the earth. Scientists say king tides help us
identify places vulnerable to rising sea levels, so we went to talk to
people who live and work close to the water. Joshua Menashe grew up in a
house right on Puget Sound in West Seattle. He’s back there helping his
parents put up Christmas lights now. He remembers one time, a really
high tide washed some sea lions into their backyard. “Right over here to
the left – sitting right by the firepit!" he said. "They started
barking and then hopped back into the water and were gone.” Monday’s
king tide one was only twelve and a half feet. Joshua McNichols reports.
(KUOW)

After six sea lions found shot, another seven found with ‘acute trauma’
Since September, six sea lions have died from gunshot wounds in central
Puget Sound and Kitsap County. The Seattle Times reports that another
seven are suspected to have died from "acute trauma" caused by humans,
including a decomposed sea lion with its head sliced off found washed
ashore Tuesday in a West Seattle cove. That's according to Seal Sitters
Marine Mammal Stranding Network, a group that responds to reports of
stranded or dead sea lions. Michael Milstein, a NOAA Fisheries
spokesman, has confirmed the deaths of five California sea lions in West
Seattle, including four that died of gunshot wounds. NOAA Fisheries
law-enforcement agents are investigating these crimes, which are
prohibited under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. (Associated Press)

--
"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service
by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@)
salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you
can unsubscribe at any time.

Red ribbon wormTubulanus polymorphus
The bright red-orange color of this species makes it easy to spot on the
beach. Red ribbon worms do not commonly exceed a length of 2 feet (60
cm) but can reach 3 feet (90 cm) and when fully stretched out, large
ones can measure 10 feet. Their head is rounded and somewhat distinct
from the body. There are no eyes or markings on the head. Look for
this species in rocky areas and mussel beds. It ranges from the
intertidal zone to a depth of 165 feet (50 meters). Mary Jo Adams wrote.
(Sound Water Stewards)

Year's highest tides on the way
The highest tides of the year, called king tides, are forecast to hit
area shorelines Monday. King tides are extreme high tides that occur
during the winter, when the moon is closest to Earth. They present an
opportunity to preview what the state’s shoreline areas may look like in
the future as sea level rises, according to the King Tides Program
coordinated by the state Department of Ecology and Washington Sea Grant,
which is a research and education program out of the University of
Washington.... King tides are forecast for nine days: Monday through
Wednesday, Dec. 25-27 and Jan. 23-25. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit
Valley Herald)

Government climate report warns of worsening US disasters
As California’s catastrophic wildfires recede and people rebuild after
two hurricanes, a massive new federal report warns that these types of
disasters are worsening in the United States because of global warming.
The White House report quietly issued Friday also frequently contradicts
President Donald Trump. The National Climate Assessment was written
long before the deadly fires in California this month and before
Hurricanes Florence and Michael raked the East Coast and Florida. It
says warming-charged extremes “have already become more frequent,
intense, widespread or of long duration.” The report notes the last few
years have smashed U.S. records for damaging weather, costing nearly
$400 billion since 2015. Seth Borenstein reports. (Associated Press) See
also: Trump Administration’s Strategy on Climate: Try to Bury Its Own Scientific Report The
Trump White House, which has defined itself by a willingness to dismiss
scientific findings and propose its own facts, on Friday issued a
scientific report that directly contradicts its own climate-change
policies. That sets the stage for a remarkable split-screen political
reality in coming years. The administration is widely expected to
discount or ignore the report’s detailed findings of the economic strain
caused by climate change, even as it continues to cut environmental
regulations, while opponents use it to mount legal attacks against the
very administration that issued the report. Coral Davenport reports. (NY
Times)

One Tiny Owl: Otherworldly Photos From California's Woolsey Fire
When Los Angeles Times photographer Wally Skalij photographed a
tiny owl sitting on the beach in Malibu as the flames of the Woolsey
Fire burned in the background, he had no idea how many people would
connect with the image. Since the Times published the photo, it’s
been shared thousands of times on social media. The owl and other
photos Skalij made — three llamas tied to a lifeguard stand, a father
and daughter sifting through the ashes of their home, a firefighter
peering over a concrete wall as a torrent of flames rises in front of
him — are eerie and otherworldly, capturing the surreal nature of a
world consumed by fire. Ari Shapiro and Aubri Juhasz report. (NPR)

Dry fall puts damper on Kitsap salmon returns
Rains sweeping across Kitsap last week may have arrived too late to help
tens of thousands of salmon wriggling up streams to spawn. Late October
and early November were marked by dry weather that settled in just as
chum and coho were gathering at creek mouths around the peninsula.
Suquamish Tribe fisheries biologist Jon Oleyar said water levels were
"extremely low" in east Kitsap creeks and salmon have struggled to reach
accustomed spawning grounds.... Stragglers could still benefit from the
showers now arriving. Tad Sooter reports. (Kitsap Sun)

State proposes listing marine snail as endangered
The state Department of Fish & Wildlife has proposed listing the
pinto abalone, which is found in area marine waters, as endangered. The
state agency is taking public input on the proposal and will hold a
public meeting in December in Anacortes. The pinto abalone, which is a
type of marine snail, is the only abalone species in the state and is
prized for its meat and its shiny shells. While there has never been a
commercial fishery in the state for pinto abalone and the recreational
fishery was closed in 1994, the species has continued to decline, nearly
disappearing from the San Juan Island region, according to a news
release. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Race between McClendon, Randall among 3 headed for recounts in Washington
Three legislative races in Washington state are heading to a hand
recount after election results are certified next week. For the open
Senate seat in the 26th District, Democrat Emily Randall is leading by
99 votes as of Friday over Republican Marty McClendon. The two are vying
to replace Republican Sen. Jan Angel, who is retiring. In the 42nd
District, Republican Sen. Doug Ericksen led Democratic challenger Pinky
Vargas by just 45 votes. And Ericksen’s seatmate in the House,
Republican Rep. Luanne Van Werven, led Democrat Justin Boneau by 80
votes. Rachel La Corte reports. (Associated Press)

Proposals to restrict single-use plastic items gaining steam in Gig Harbor
Support appears to be building for two ordinances that would restrict
stores and restaurants in Gig Harbor from using certain products,
including plastic bags, plastic straws and Styrofoam. A majority of the
people who spoke about the ordinances at the Nov. 14 City Council
meeting said they support banning some kinds of plastics from the city.
That included Holly Chisa of the Northwest Grocery Association, who told
the council her group would abide by the ordinances if passed. “We are
here today to let you know the ordinance in front of you today is one
that we know, and if you choose to go this direction, we would support
that decision,” Chisa said. Jake Gregg reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

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Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Searching for the World's Largest Octopus in the Waters of West Seattle
On a recent Sunday, two divers at a small cove in West Seattle pulled on
their suits, air tanks, and masks. With their fins in their hands, they
walked slowly toward the edge of Puget Sound, ready to descend dozens
of feet into the water's foggy depths in search of the largest octopus
in the world—the giant Pacific octopus. Jerry Dollar, a seasoned amateur
diver who organized the expedition through the Emerald Sea Dive Club,
offered Andrew Creighton and Mark Newland some last-minute advice. Keep
an eye out for piles of clam and crab shells, because that may indicate
you're next to their den, he told them. Look carefully through piles of
rocks and in the Honey Bear, a shipwrecked boat about 35 feet under
water. And don't skip the shallow areas. Hallie Golden reports. (Pacific
Standard)

Every new car sold in 2040 will be zero-emission, B.C. government says
All new cars and trucks sold in B.C. in the year 2040 will have to be
zero-emission vehicles, the premier promised Tuesday. John Horgan said
the government is planning to introduce legislation in the spring to
gradually phase in targets for the sale of electric cars and hydrogen
fuel cell vehicles and will take steps to make those vehicles cheaper.
(CBC)

North Kitsap brothers plan an ocean-saving road trip down the Pacific Coast
For Hans Schippers, the jolting moment was paddling on a surfboard
through a patch of floating plastics — a collection of fishing debris
and other chunks — off Oahu. For his brother Nick, it was paddling past a
Doritos bag floating in the surf at La Push. “It’s just crazy to see
the amount of junk that’s in the water,” Nick said. “It’s not getting
better, it just keeps getting worse and worse and worse. It takes
awareness to change that.” The Ocean Conservancy estimates that every
year, 8 million metric tons of plastic go into oceans. The brothers have
seen that plastics problem up close — while surfing off Hawaii, or on
the Washington or Oregon coasts — and they've decided to do something
about it.... Within the next few weeks, they’ll pack up, board their bus
and rumble out of Poulsbo in pursuit of an ambitious goal: speaking to
10,000 kids in schools about how they use plastics and how those
plastics can end up in oceans and hurt the world they live in. Nathan
Piling reports. (Kitsap Sun)

Dead sperm whale found in Indonesia had ingested '6kg of plastic'
A dead sperm whale that washed ashore in a national park in Indonesia
had nearly 6kg (13 lbs) of plastic waste in its stomach, park officials
say. Items found included 115 drinking cups, four plastic bottles, 25
plastic bags and two flip-flops. The carcass of the 9.5m (31ft) mammal
was found in waters near Kapota Island in the Wakatobi National Park
late on Monday. (BBC)

Fish can detox too -- but not so well, when it comes to mercury
By examining the tissues at a subcellular level, researchers discovered
yelloweye rockfish were able to immobilize several potentially toxic
elements within their liver tissues (cadmium, lead, and arsenic) thus
preventing them from interacting with sensitive parts of the cell. But
mercury was found in concentrations known to be toxic - and most of it
was in sensitive sites, such as mitochondria and enzymes, within liver
cells. (Science Daily)

Postcard from the boundary waters
The staggering wilderness at the mouth of the Stikine River just outside
of Wrangell, Alaska, takes no time to announce itself. Samantha Larson
reports. (Crosscut)

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service
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Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Sailfish sculpinNautichthys oculofasciatus
The sail is a tall separate dorsal fin. The sailfish sculpin is common
but primarily nocturnal; hides in crevices during the day. Seen at night
over rocky and kelp-covered sandy bottoms. Undulates the long second
dorsal fin while swimming. Ranges from Alaska to southern California.
(Marine Wildlife of Puget Sound, the San Juans, and the Strait of
Georgia.)

Washington state asks lawmakers for $90 million to improve habitat for orcas, salmon
If approved, a $90 million budget request to the Washington state
legislature could aggressively tackle what’s needed to help Puget
Sound’s southern resident orcas survive. A request on Monday by Hilary
Franz, the state’s Commissioner of Public Lands, would increases the
money already being spent on restoring habitats for salmon, removing
barriers that inhibit the fish from reaching their spawning ground;
researching ocean acidification; and removing rundown vessels on
waterways, according to an emailed statement from the state’s Department
of Natural Resources. The department’s previous two-year budget for
similar programs and efforts cost the agency $55.5 million, according to
Franz’s staff. The overall budget for the department last year was
$351 million. Agueda Pacheco-Flores reports. (Seattle Times)

Trump Says He’ll Nominate Andrew Wheeler to Head the E.P.A.
President Trump on Friday said he intends to nominate Andrew R. Wheeler,
a former coal lobbyist, to be the permanent administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency. The E.P.A. has been at the center of
the Trump administration’s agenda to reduce the regulations on industry,
and Mr. Wheeler has been instrumental in seeing through rollbacks of
major environmental policies. The changes include proposals to weaken
the Obama administration’s signature policies to combat climate change,
including a sweeping regulation on emissions from coal-fired power
plants and a rule reining in pollution from vehicle tailpipes. Lisa
Friedman reports. (NY Times)

Air Quality in California: Devastating Fires Lead to a New Danger
The wildfires that have laid waste to vast parts of California are
presenting residents with a new danger: air so thick with smoke it ranks
among the dirtiest in the world. On Friday, residents of smog-choked
Northern California woke to learn that their pollution levels now exceed
those in cities in China and India that regularly rank among the worst.
In the communities closest to the Paradise fire, an apocalyptic fog
cloaked the roads, evacuees wandered in white masks and officials said
respiratory hospitalizations had surged. Nearly 200 miles to the south,
in San Francisco, the smoke was so thick that health warnings prompted
widespread school closings. Even the city’s cable cars were yanked from
the streets. Julie Turkewitz and Matt Richtel reports. (NY Times)

Proposed environmental assessment legislation needs integrity boost: scientists
Scientists from across Canada have signed their names to a letter urging
the British Columbia government to tighten the wording of its proposed
environmental assessment legislation. The open letter is signed by
nearly 200 academics, researchers or officials from 15 Canadian
post-secondary institutions and 13 environmental or scientific
organizations. It says Bill 51, which was introduced by the NDP
government earlier this month, contains a number of positive reforms and
important amendments that will change the way mines, dams and pipelines
are reviewed and approved in B.C. But the letter says the proposed
legislation continues to give priority to industry-generated evidence
and does not require an independent peer review of that evidence, or
that all records be made public. (Canadian Press)

LNG, pipeline star in B.C. economic outlook
Employment will accelerate in B.C.’s north over the next couple of
years, with construction of liquefied natural gas infrastructure and
pipelines fuelling a boom in jobs and residential and commercial
construction, according to the B.C. Regional Economic Outlook report.
Meanwhile, employment growth in Metro Vancouver and southwestern B.C. is
predicted to slow to just over one per cent in 2019 and 2020, as labour
shortages and a tight housing market continue to be friction points for
businesses and workers, respectively. Overall, economic growth is
expected to fall to between 2.5 and three per cent from 3.8 per cent in
2017. Randy Shore reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Edmonds whale-watching group opposes proposed restrictions
A task force arranged by Gov. Jay Inslee in March has now recommended a
partial ban on whale-watching tours in an attempt to save Washington
state’s endangered southern resident killer whales from extinction. The
task force wants to suspend whale-watching boat tours focused on
southern residents for three to five years. That recommendation, one of
36 intended to increase the run of chinook salmon, another Pacific
Northwest icon and which the southern resident orcas are largely
dependent on for food, is misguided, says Puget Sound Express, a
whale-watching operation with departures from Edmonds and Port Townsend.
Brian Soergel reports. (Edmonds Beacon)

Apparently, No One Knows How Much an Oil Spill on Salish Sea Would Cost
There’s much ado about Canada’s insistence on building the Trans
Mountain oil pipeline, a colossal delivery mechanism to bring tar sands
fuel from Alberta. The project is unusually large but it’s of a piece
with the oil industry’s decades of relentless expansion on the shores of
the Salish Sea. Despite the industry’s assurances—to say nothing of the
thousands of pages of environmental review, activism, and legal
challenges—the price tag for a serious oil spill is anyone’s guess.
That’s right: no one knows what an oil spill could cost us. It’s a
colossal oversight for a region that says it values the fragile waters
of its inland sea. Puget Sound is peppered with refineries, shipping
terminals, pipelines, and oil train depots, and it is therefore exposed
to constant threat of oil contamination. A tar sands spill, for example,
could be devastating for the region’s ecology, but no one seems to know
what the taxpayer bill might be. Eric de Place and John Abbotts write.
(Sightline)

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service
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Northern shovelerAnas clypeata
The aptly named Northern Shoveler has a shovel-shaped bill that quickly
sets it apart from other dabbling ducks. It is a medium-sized duck that
tends to sit with its rear a bit higher out of the water almost like its
bill is pulling its front half down. Northern Shovelers often have
their heads down in shallow wetlands, busily sweeping their bills side
to side, filtering out aquatic invertebrates and seeds from the water.
Northern Shovelers forage in shallow wetlands, coastal marshes, rice
fields, flooded fields, lakes, and sewage lagoons. They nest along the
margins of wetlands or in neighboring grassy areas. (All About Birds)

Puget Sound orcas are in town, chasing chum salmon and wowing ferry riders
Southern resident orcas are making waves all over Puget Sound, in a rare
extended visit that began Nov. 4 that hasn’t let up yet. The orcas have
been traveling the central Puget Sound waters, wowing ferry riders,
shore-based whale watchers, and orca fans from Tacoma to Vashon Island
to West Sound. About 40 J and K pod whales were cavorting all day long
Thursday off the south end of Vashon, near the Tahlequah Ferry dock, the
former Asarco Smelter site, and Commencement Bay, making their way back
north toward Seattle by day’s end. After spending most of the day
scattered in small groups, the pods gathered for a sunset finale,
cruising right by Pt. Robinson Park on Maury Island, as islanders stood
in astonishment on the beach to watch. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle
Times)

Dead newborn orca calf washes up near Vancouver Island
Officials say a dead newborn orca calf washed up on the shores of Nootka
Island off Vancouver Island Friday. KCPQ-TV reports Canada's Department
of Fisheries and Oceans is performing a necropsy to determine cause of
death and also its ecotype, whether it's a southern resident, transient
or other type of orca. Ken Balcomb, founder and principal investigator
at the Center for Whale Research, told Q13 News he does not believe the
dead newborn is from the endangered southern resident population.
(Associated Press)

If you like to watch:Otter dances. Otter poops. Researchers dig in
Three otters gather on a patch of grass on the Green River in Kent.
They waddle. They sniff. And then two of them do a poop dance. “We
have wonderful footage of what we call the scat dance,” said Michelle
Wainstein, a wildlife biologist who studies the poop of otters along the
Green and Duwamish Rivers. "They will do a little prancing with their
back feet and lift their tail up a bit and do their thing.” John Ryan
reports. (KUOW)

A Record-Breaking Dive by a Hungry Killer Whale
Big factory ships arrive from around the world—Britain, Norway, Chile,
New Zealand, Spain—in search of the Patagonian toothfish, the most
lucrative catch in the storm-tossed southern Atlantic Ocean. Awaiting
their arrival off South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are two
pesky competitors—killer whales and sperm whales. The opportunistic
hunters have learned to steal the fish off the fleet’s longlines, and
they’ll go to great depths to do it. Researchers tracked one adult
female killer whale to a world-record depth of 1,087 meters. That’s well
beyond the previous best for a killer whale of 767 meters, set in 2013
off the Prince Edward Islands in the subantarctic Indian Ocean. “This
killer whale just blew that record away,” says Jared Towers, lead author
of the new study. Larry Pynn reports. (Hakai Magazine)

Killer whale thriller hits bookstands
“Lost Frequency, A Novel of Sound, Speed, Power and Greed,” by
Barry Swanson, features the endangered Southern resident killer whales.
Swanson is a marine naturalist, a steward of the environment and a
singer and songwriter. He lives with his family in the Pacific Northwest
on the Salish Sea... A page-turning philosophical thriller, “Lost Frequency”
confronts animal rights, human nature, artificial intelligence and the
perils of technology turned loose. (Pendrell Sound Press)

Tsawwassen First Nation hold ceremony for dead humpback whale
Tsawwassen First Nation held a ceremony to honour a dead humpback whale
that washed up on shore Friday. The whale, which appears to be juvenile,
was towed away by the Coast Guard for a necropsy. The Department of
Fisheries and Oceans is investigating. It is unclear whether the whale,
which washed up not far from the Tsawwassen ferry terminal, was hit by a
boat, or whether it died from an illness. Andrea Jacobs, executive
council for the Tsawwassen First Nation, said about six members gathered
on the beach to hold a traditional aboriginal ceremony to honour the
young whale’s life. Tiffany Crawford reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Increase in heron nests seen at March Point
The 15.5 acres of protected great blue heron habitat on March Point is
lush with ferns, moss and tall trees dotted with heron nests. In recent
years, the number of nests has increased throughout that area called the
March Point Heronry. The heronry is partially owned and partially held
in conservation easements by the Skagit Land Trust. Land trust staff
said they believe the increase in nests is due to herons moving into
March Point as nesting habitat is lost in other areas. An annual nest
count the land trust has done at March Point since 2002 has documented
as few as 258 nests and as many as 757 — the tally reached this year.
Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

State Sen. Christine Rolfes sees ongoing need to tackle climate change
Chris Dunagan in Watching Our Water Ways writes: "Climate change will
likely emerge as one of the top five issues facing the Washington
Legislature next year, predicts state Sen. Christine Rolfes of
Bainbridge Island, a key leader in the state Senate. The issue is not
going away, she told me, despite (or perhaps I because of) voter
rejection of a billion-dollar climate change initiative on last week’s
ballot. “If you are in elective office and you are aware of threats to
the climate and the future of the state, there is a moral imperative to
do something,” she said, “even though this particular proposal didn’t
pass.” Still on the table are a multitude of ideas for clean power,
cleaner transportation and greater energy efficiency, she explained as
we sat down to coffee on Monday at a Bainbridge Island
establishment...."

Pesticides and Orcas: Making the Connection Dec. 4
Lisa Hayward and Clement Furlong of the University of Washington
Superfund Research Program (UW SRP) will present the story of a surprise
discovery in genomics that suggests marine mammals may be much more
vulnerable to organophosphates like chlorpyrifos than previously
recognized.Their talk will cover evidence both of orcas' vulnerability
and also of their exposure in Puget Sound. Brought to you by The Whale
Trail, the program begins at 7 pm at C&P Coffee Company, 5612
California Ave SW. $5 suggested donation; kids under 12 get in free; Brown Paper Tickets

Shannon Wright Named Executive Director of RE Sources For Sustainable Communities
The Bellingham-based environmental group announced the hiring of Shannon
Wright as its executive director this weekend. A 20-plus-year leader in
the environmental movement, Shannon previously served as executive
director of Communitywise Bellingham and worked to help defeat the coal
terminal at Cherry Point.

Finishing touches: Adventuress in final phase of restoration in Port Townsend
Local marine tradespeople are in the process of the final stage of the
restoration of Adventuress, the National Historic Landmark schooner
based in Port Townsend that will enter her 106th year of service in
2019. The tall ship has undergone a decade-long restoration that cost
more than $1.5 million. The Capstone Deck Project is the last piece to
be completed. Jeannie McMacken reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service
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Friday, November 16, 2018

Spaghetti wormThelepus crispus
Long, exceedingly slender white tentacles spread out over rocks or mud;
food particles stick to tentacles and are moved by tina cilia to mouth.
Tentacles can be quickly retracted. Pinkish body with 3 pairs of red
gills. To 6 inches. Abundant on rock or cobble beaches. Enclosed in
long, sand-encrusted tubes; commonly found on the undersides of
intertidal rocks. (Marine Life of Puget Sound, the San Juans, and the
Strait of Georgia)

Why famished orcas may have to wait 90 years for more salmon
.... Large-scale marsh restoration has been under way at the mouth of
the Skagit River, an hour north of Seattle, for some 15 years. Hundreds
of acres of salt marsh that didn’t exist a decade ago now harbor young
salmon and other fishes. Eric Beamer, a biologist for the Swinomish and
Sauk-Suiattle tribes nearby, looked out over one of the delta’s newest
marshes on Fir Island, as snow geese circled overhead. “There were a
few hundred fish living here before restoration,” Beamer said. “After
restoration, in 2017, we saw about 50,000 fish, juvenile chinook, living
here.” The Skagit River produces most of the chinook in Puget Sound.
Recovery of Puget Sound depends on recovery of the Skagit, Beamer said.
Most salt marshes along the Skagit River were converted to farmland
long ago, leaving the river mouth a largely unfriendly habitat for young
salmon. The push to get chinook off the endangered species list has
centered on giving these little smolts marshes to swim in and hide
before they head out to sea. The long-term goal: bring back one-tenth of
the Skagit’s vanished marshes. For the past 20 years, scientists have
headed out in boats around Skagit Bay to see if marsh restoration is
making a difference for the fish. The years of fieldwork show that
chinook thrive in the new marshes. But it’s slow going. “At the pace
we’re recovering estuaries, it will take 90 years to achieve the goals
of the recovery plan,” Beamer said. John Ryan reports. (KUOW)

To whale watch, we all must make sacrifices
.... As the midterm elections took place Nov. 6, Gov. Jay Inslee’s Orca
Task Force was convened to finalize its report for delivery to the
governor on Friday, in time to influence the 2019 Legislature.
Appropriately, the task force has already recommended a three- to
five-year moratorium on whale watching operations targeting the
endangered Southern Resident Killer Whale Community. But the whales’
survival ultimately will come down to their ability to eat salmon. Human
impacts on orcas — such as through whale watching cruises — would be
buffered if the whales weren’t starving. As the top predator of the sea,
orcas can choose among all potential prey, but Washington's resident
whales evolved to specialize on Chinook, or King, the largest and most
threatened of the salmon. It’s our historic and ongoing failure to
protect and restore salmon habitat that has resulted in this emergency
situation. Immediacy must be the highest priority: We can’t assume the
whales have even the three to five years it will take to produce an
adult Chinook from a hatchery. Fred Felleman writes. (Crosscut)

Elwha nearshore 15 November 2018.
Anne Shaffer of the Coastal Watershed institute writes: "Coho, Chinook,
steelhead, and bull trout in the Elwha nearshore today, which is
reflecting our extremely mild fall. The dissolved oxygen at the south
site next to the dike was the lowest we have ever recorded-the water was
(very) cold which appears to mitigate the environmental stress. The
river was clear again this month-we've never seen conditions this warm
and calm in November. And any who have spent years on the delta note the
lack salmon carcasses. In contrast, the beaver are back and now
ambitiously dragging cuttings from the river to the lodge in the
impounded west pond-they have to go across the dike. A very vulnerable
place for them given dogs that transit there. So keep those dogs on
leashes-it is making a positive difference! We assume the beaver are
getting ready for the winter that must be coming. Thank you again to the
good willed and hard working team of students volunteers and
collaborators that made light work of a good day. Happy Thanksgiving."

Maltby gas pipeline on pause
Plans to enlarge a natural gas pipeline through Maltby are shifting as
the county has withdrawn permit approval on the project due to
environmental concerns.... The county last month had approved four
permits and issued a decision that the project would not have a
significant environmental impact. It withdrew that decision last week
after environmental concerns were raised about one of the properties
involved in the nearly 6-mile long pipeline widening project, according
to an official familiar with the project. Williams presented the county
with the new information, a county permit official said. The withdrawal
coincidentally but separately came as environmental activists were
mobilizing to appeal. Angela Cooper-McCorkle reports. (Snohomish
Tribune)

You can now live stream whale calls from the sea using an app
Now, thanks to an extensive research project called Orcasound,
you can tune into live streams of orca whales near Washington State and
participate in a massive citizen science initiative. Orcasound is using
advances in technology, streaming media, and algorithms to take citizen
science to the next level and make it easier for people who are
passionate about marine conservation and whales to access sounds and
recordings typically reserved for field researchers. Kay Vandette
reports. (Earth.Com)

New Canadian Coast Guard radar updates marine traffic monitoring off B.C. coast
The federal government is adding to marine traffic monitoring with more
radar coverage along the British Columbia coast in order to improve
safety for ships travelling through narrow and challenging waterways.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada says six new radar installations will fill
in existing gaps in coverage for busy and risky stretches of water from
the northern end of Georgia Strait to Queen Charlotte Strait and in the
waters off Prince Rupert. Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson
announced the new installations Thursday at the Canadian Coast Guard
station in Richmond. A government news release says the expanded radar
coverage is part of the $1.5-billion Oceans Protection Plan designed to
improve marine safety and safeguard Canada's marine environment and
coastal communities. (Canadian Press)

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service
by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@)
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can unsubscribe at any time.

Thursday, November 15, 2018

RockweedFucus distichusFucus distichus or rockweed is a species of brown alga in the
family Fucaceae to be found in the intertidal zones of rocky seashores
in the Northern Hemisphere, mostly in rock pools. In Great Britain,
rockweed is found on northern coasts of Scotland and the north and west
coasts of Ireland where it is found on rock faces and in rock pools in
the upper littoral zone. It also occurs on the eastern coast of North
America. and on the west coast from Alaska to California.... It has been
found that this species grows more abundantly on sloped than on
vertical rock faces. Its presence increases species richness as it forms
canopies in the mid to high intertidal zone that provide protection,
shelter and food for a variety of small invertebrates including many
gastropods and crustaceans. (Alchetron)

Stop fishing salmon, orca lovers say. You’re missing the point, Skagit tribe says
.... At meeting after public meeting over the past six months, orca
lovers and orca experts have urged bold action: Everything from removing
dams to restricting or banning activities that can harm the whales.
Crazy or not, those are fighting words to people whose ancestors gave up
their land to be able to keep fishing. “Humans are the problem, and
it’s not fishermen,” commercial fisherman and Makah tribal chair Nate
Tyler said at a task force meeting in Anacortes. “This task force isn’t
going to stop me. It’s not in a position to stop me.” “That’s always
being touted—cease fishing,” said Doreen Maloney, general manager of the
Upper Skagit Indian Tribe in Sedro-Woolley, in the foothills of the
North Cascades. “People [who] say that don't have any clue of how to
manage fish.” John Ryan reports. (KUOW)

National organization invests in Skagit County project for orca recovery
The National Fish & Wildlife Foundation announced Wednesday $742,000
in grants for projects aimed at protecting and restoring the endangered
Southern Resident orca population. Those grants, which include $144,000
for a project in Skagit County, will leverage $1.8 million toward orca
recovery when combined with matches from project sponsors. Projects
receiving grant funding include genetic research, habitat protection,
salmon recovery and boater education. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit
Valley Herald)

Sea lions found shot near West Seattle
Nearly a half dozen California sea lions have washed ashore in the last
six weeks near West Seattle, and at least two of them are confirmed to
have been killed by gunshot wounds. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) confirmed they are investigating the deaths. One
sea lion found Wednesday has suspicious wounds, but a necropsy has not
yet been performed to find the cause of death. There are several others
still under investigation as well. Alison Morrow reports. (KING) See also: Hundreds of noisy, smelly sea lions fill Cowichan Bay — to the delight of many Joel Ballard reports. (CBC)

You don’t have to wait for a special occasion to help southern resident orcas
Perhaps the humpback whale felt snubbed or assumed its invitation got
lost in the mail. It was Orca Recovery Day, after all, not a Humpback
Appreciation Lunch, but that didn’t stop a representative from the
latter group of large mammals from making its presence felt. “I wouldn’t
have even dreamed it could have worked out so well,” said Pierce
Conservation District spokesman Allan Warren of the unexpected visit,
which occurred last Saturday, just offshore as the dozens of people
assembled at Tacoma Narrows Park sat down for lunch. They were gathered
for the Pierce Conservation’s Orca Recovery Day event, one of 10 such
events organized by conservation districts across the region. Matt
Driscoll writes. (Tacoma News Tribune)

For 1st time in years, chinook salmon return to rehabbed Seattle creek to spawn
Finally, a bit of good salmon news this week, courtesy Seattle Public
Utilities (SPU). For the first time in eight years, chinook salmon have
returned to Thornton Creek, in northeast Seattle, to spawn. The creek
was the subject of an $8 million rehabilitation project in 2014, where
SPU crews replaced 1,000 feet of a narrow, deep streambed with a wider,
engineered streambed. This keeps high-quality gravel in place for
spawning salmon, according to a release by SPU.Natalie Guevara reports.
(SeattlePI.Com)

Petition urges better technology to treat Puget Sound sewage
An environmental group is asking Washington state regulators to require
municipalities to use the latest technology to treat sewage before it's
released into Puget Sound. The petition filed Wednesday by Northwest
Environmental Advocates urges the Department of Ecology to require an
advanced level of wastewater treatment to better remove nutrient
pollution and toxics, such as from personal care products. The group
says such technology is being used in Spokane County and other cities
nationwide and yet the state requires decades-old technology. The state
requires plants to treat wastewater from toilets, sinks and other areas
so it is clean enough to be released into waters. The group says
updating standards to what's known as "tertiary treatment" would reduce
toxic pollution and nutrient overloading. An Ecology spokeswoman says
the agency is reviewing the request and will respond in the time
allowed.(Associated Press)

Implementation Strategies will target Puget Sound ‘Vital Signs’
On the surface, Puget Sound seems like the picture of health. Its
gorgeous blue waters and abundant wildlife draw tourists from around the
world. And while the region's natural beauty is undeniable, it hides a
disturbing truth. If Puget Sound were a patient, it would be pretty
sick. That’s the general opinion of scientists and researchers who have
been monitoring Puget Sound’s so-called Vital Signs — 25 indicators of
ecosystem health ranging from water quality and shellfish harvests to
Chinook salmon runs and human wellbeing. Creating these Vital Signs
became an important step in Puget Sound recovery several years ago when
they were established by the state as a way to gauge improvements or
declines in the ecosystem. Scientists, like doctors, need some way to
measure the health of the patient. But knowing how sick the patient is
doesn’t necessarily solve the problem. You actually have to prescribe
the correct treatment for a specific ailment and observe carefully to
see if it is working. You adjust the treatment as needed. In a similar
fashion, Puget Sound’s recovery docs are zeroing in on their patient’s
problems. Implementation Strategies, a culmination of this process, are
designed to target the Vital Signs in the most direct and coordinated
way ever conducted for Puget Sound. If the treatment works, Puget
Sound’s condition will improve. Chris Dunagan reports. (Salish Sea
Currents)

Otter Fans Float Plan To Bring Sea Otters Back To Oregon Coast
It’s been more than a century since sea otters were hunted to near
extinction along the U.S. West Coast. The cute animals were successfully
reintroduced along the Washington, British Columbia and California
coasts, but an attempt to bring them back to Oregon in the early 1970s
failed. Now a new nonprofit has formed to try again. “For about 110
years now, there’s been a big hole in our environment,” said Peter
Hatch, a Siletz tribal member living in Corvallis. “The sea otter has
been is missing from the Oregon coast.”
Sponsor Hatch recently joined the board of a new nonprofit dedicated to
bringing the sea otter back to Oregon waters. The group is named the
Elakha Alliance — “elakha” is the Clatsop-Chinookan word for sea otter.
Tom Banse reports. (NW Public Broadcasting)

Feds, B.C. expand protected habitat for 40 species at risk in B.C.'s Darkwoods
A conservation area in British Columbia's southeast mountains is being
expanded by almost 8,000 hectares with the help of federal and
provincial government contributions totalling $14.6 million. The
Darkwoods Conservation Area, located along Kootenay Lake between Nelson
and Creston, provides habitat for 40 species at risk, including grizzly
bear, wolverine, mountain caribou and whitebark pine trees. Federal
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna and B.C. Environment Minister
George Heyman say the joint government investment reflects commitments
to protect threatened species. (Canadian Press)

TONIGHT
SW wind 15 to 20 kt easing to 10 to 15 kt after
midnight. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 9 ft at 13 seconds. Rain
in the evening then a chance of rain after midnight.

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About Me

Salish Sea Communications provides communications and public relations services that raise visibility and engage audiences. Drawing on over 30 years experience in private, public and not-for-profit work, Mike Sato brings to you his skills and insights in developing and carrying out your print, electronic and social media projects and products. "I've been in the communications business since 1977 starting with community weekly newspapers then working for Seattle City Light, the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority, Hawaiian Electric Company and, for 20 years, People For Puget Sound." Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told. WA State UBI #601395482